TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – Two of the people accused of stealing items worth thousands from a woman whose home they were hired to renovate have been convicted for their roles in the scheme.
Court records show Kyle Conaway, of Toledo, took a plea deal on Oct. 15 and pleaded guilty to Theft from a Person in a Protected Class. Elizabeth Russel, of Toledo, entered a no-contest plea to a Receiving Stolen Property charge. Another man, Scott Dibert, is also charged in the case.
Conaway also pleaded guilty to two counts of Assault after police say he punched an officer who was serving a warrant for his arrest, court records show.
Police allege they were working for Red Bird Renovations to make a 71-year-old amputee’s Toledo home wheelchair accessible when they stole thousands worth of items, including her family heirlooms, and sold them on social media. The woman told 13 Action News she estimates around $110,000 worth of her belongings were stolen from her property.
She said she is ready to speak face-to-face with the alleged thieves in court.
“What I’d like to see in the future is me being at the sentencing, being able to read my letter and the people that are going to give him the sentence, the judge or whoever can hear what it’s done to me,” said Sue, who only wished to be identified by her first name.
Sue said everyday items like her microwave, blankets, pillows, and food in her pantry were all taken. She said her some of her medical equipment was taken and the accessible chair lift was ruined during the period of renovations. Sue said the renovations were never completed by Red Bird Renovations. Instead, they caused more damage that she is working to repair.
But worst of all, Sue claims the company took her valuable vintage toy collections and family heirlooms and posted them on Facebook Marketplace.
“I started seeing him list on Facebook Marketplace and one of the first things I saw was my dad’s army pictures, his army medals, his diary. The person from Red Bird Renovations put it out as if it were his father and his family and these were his items he was selling,” Sue said.
She said it was not an ordinary burglary by any means.
“What reason did they have to take everything down to the toothpicks and the salt and pepper shakers,” Sue said. “Why not take a TV or something and be happy.”
Other missing items include her vintage Barbies, dollhouse furniture, and her deceased sister’s political pin collection. Sue said some of those items are still posted on Facebook Marketplace, and her collector friends brought it to her attention in the first place.
“I’ve gotten about maybe 80 to 90 percent back, again with some damage. But there’s always the part that the ones that you don’t have, ‘oh I’ll never see that again,’” Sue said.
She said she hopes to ask Conaway for the rest of her items back when she sees him at sentencing.
“I hope he has it somewhere in his heart or soul that he can tell me where my items are if he hasn’t sold them that I can get them back,” Sue said.
Russel is due back in court for sentencing on Nov. 4 and Conaway’s sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 12.
Latest Local News | First Alert Weather | Crime | National | 13abc Originals
Copyright 2024 WTVG. All rights reserved.
link